Chapter 862 The Strongest
Manchester Etihad Stadium.
In the 33rd round of the Premier League, Manchester City faced Tottenham Hotspur at home.
The Manchester City fans in the stands were cheering for the team at the top of their lungs, while the home team players on the field were constantly running and passing the ball, organizing and creating opportunities, while the visiting team players were retreating across the board, always keeping the three lines in front of the goal compact.
This is a team that can reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Although they lost to Real Madrid both at home and away in the quarter-finals and were eliminated with an aggregate score of 0-5, Redknapp has coached a team with high tactical qualities.
The team was able to beat Inter Milan and Werder Bremen in the group stage, qualify as the group leader, and beat AC Milan in the round of 16 to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League. This shows the strength of this team.
Redknapp's team took up a defensive stance at the Etihad Stadium.
Four defenders and four midfielders, it seems like two forwards, but in fact Crouch is more of a supporting role. Counterattacks basically rely on Gareth Bale's speed. But even so, Gareth Bale is also very active in defense.
Redknapp has put together the strongest defensive lineup he can.
In the game, Tottenham Hotspur did not disappoint Redknapp.
This team, which performed brilliantly in the Champions League this season and played with a certain degree of confidence, also showed its impressive strength after returning to the Premier League, especially when facing Manchester City's passing and controlling the ball.
Tottenham Hotspur's defense was very tightly organized, especially the three defensive midfielders consisting of Palacios, Sandro and Huddlestone, who built a solid wall in front of the back line, making it difficult for Manchester City's passing and control of the ball to penetrate effectively.
In the game, Manchester City could only control the ball in the area outside the 30-meter area. It was difficult to form effective passes in the 30-meter area, especially outside the penalty area. Everyone knew that only by forming effective pass penetration in this area could they create a threat.
Manchester City's few real threatening attacks in the game all came from the two flanks of Sudon, Di Maria and Sanchez, the two midfielders of Moutinho and Toni Kroos, plus Marcelo on the left and Zabaleta on the right. Manchester City's offensive level was very good, but Tottenham's defense was equally unambiguous.
More importantly, Tottenham Hotspur really fought hard.
It can even be said that Tottenham intends to give up the Champions League and do its best to strive for the top four in the Premier League.
This caused Manchester City to encounter huge resistance in the game.
From the first half to the second half, from the 50th minute to the 80th minute, they were unable to break through the goal guarded by Cudicini.
The Italian goalkeeper was also very nervous tonight and played exceptionally bravely, saving two very good shots from Su Dong.
And so the game continued to be stalemate.
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"Fortunately, we concentrated our forces to play this game!"
In the home team's coaching booth, chief assistant coach Estiat said with fear.
As early as when the strategy was formulated, the coaching staff was more inclined to play against Arsenal because they were in the FA Cup semi-finals and one game would decide the outcome, so they absolutely could not lose. As for the home game against Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City had the advantage in strength, and it was also their home game, so they had a higher margin of error.
But at that time, Su Dong believed that the team was confident of winning against Arsenal and there was no need to try their best. Instead, they should be more careful about Tottenham Hotspur. Now that the game has been played for more than 80 minutes, the facts have proved Su Dong's keen judgment.
"If we didn't try our best tonight and the front trident couldn't suppress Tottenham Hotspur's midfield and backcourt, it would be terrible." Torrent also agreed with Estiat's judgment.
Attack and defense complement each other.
In fact, Tottenham Hotspur is best at defense and counterattack. For example, in the two games against Inter Milan, including the almost reversal in the first game and the big win in the second game, they were all counterattacks under stable defense, which brought out the role of Gareth Bale.
The Welshman is just too fast.
It is conceivable that if Manchester City fails to control the midfield and frontcourt, it is very likely to become the second Inter Milan.
In this game, the trident of Sudon, Di Maria and Sanchez all started and played the whole game. In the second half, Guardiola even replaced David Silva to further strengthen the attack, but they still couldn't break through.
The game fell into a one-sided stalemate. Manchester City kept organizing and planning attacks but failed to break the deadlock.
This made Guardiola and his assistants in the home team's coaching booth look solemn.
Sometimes, that's just how football games are.
It doesn't mean that if you make a wise choice, you will get the corresponding rewards.
It was in this situation that Di Maria and Marcelo's breakthrough on the left won Manchester City a valuable corner kick opportunity.
At this time, the time was already the eighty-sixth minute.
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Toni Kroos stood in the corner area, positioned the ball, and then slowly backed away.
At this time, tall players such as Sudong, Pepe, Kompany and others were all in Tottenham Hotspur's penalty area.
Manchester City has quite a few tall players, especially Su Dong. His size is a huge deterrent to any team.
How should this corner kick be played? The German midfielder looked towards the penalty area, wanting to see the reaction of his teammates in the penalty area.
Sudong, Pepe and Kompany all gathered in the middle, and the referee was about to exit the penalty area.
How to fight? Everyone immediately looked at Su Dong.
He is not only the team's on-field captain, but also the team's offensive core. Su Dong is also very sensitive to the on-field situation and tactical responses, which makes the players in the team admire him very much.
For example, before the game, it was Su Dong who suggested that they should try their best to play against Tottenham, which enabled the team to avoid losing points.
Even if this game ends in a draw, Manchester City still has certain advantages.
Su Dong felt the inquiring gazes of Toni Kroos and his teammates in the distance. He hesitated for a moment and immediately made the gesture of seven. Everyone was obviously surprised when they saw it.
But Su Dong still nodded heavily.
The previous corner kicks failed to create any threat, which shows that Tottenham Hotspur's preparations for Manchester City were extremely detailed, including the defense of set pieces and corner kick tactics, which were all targeted drills and arrangements.
In this situation, Manchester City must find a way to win by surprise.
Pepe took the first penalty, and Kompany and others followed suit.
Soon, Toni Kroos in the corner also received the signal.
…
The referee left the penalty area and after seeing that there was no problem, he blew the whistle to signal that he could take the penalty.
Toni Kroos ran forward quickly, posing as if he was going to send the ball into the penalty area.
There was chaos in Tottenham Hotspur's penalty area.
But at this moment, Toni Kroos did not kick the ball out with a big foot, but passed the ball quickly.
The ball rolled along the ground towards the penalty area.
Pepe, who was preparing to attack at the front point just now, suddenly ran over, blocked the defensive player with his body, stopped the ball with his back, and then passed it back to the left side outside the penalty area.
Faced with the sudden change, Tottenham Hotspur's defense habitually pressed forward, trying to suppress Manchester City's attack on the left side and prevent them from creating threats.
Pepe passed the ball to Marcelo who came from behind.
At this moment, Redknapp, who was standing in front of the visiting team's coaching booth, suddenly realized that something was wrong.
Pepe pulled to the left, Kompany also ran over, but where was Su Dong? The penalty area was in chaos.
When Redknapp's old eyes finally found Su Dong in the penalty area, he discovered that as Manchester City's number one attacker, Su Dong did not move forward, but instead dragged closer to the back point.
"Watch out for Su Dong!" Redknapp immediately warned.
But at this time, on the court, Marcelo came on and stopped the ball. There was no one defending him, and he passed the ball directly with his left foot without any adjustment.
The ball crossed most of the penalty area and landed accurately on the right side of Tottenham Hotspur's goal.
Su Dong, who had been lying in ambush, suddenly moved forward and jumped before Ledley King. He jumped high and just met the ball passed by Marcelo. He headed the ball directly to the right.
Because the ball was on the left, Cudicini's position was also on the left, but Manchester City suddenly passed the ball diagonally to the back point, and Su Dong's header caught Cudicini off guard.
The Italian goalkeeper tried hard to save the ball, but it was too late.
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!"
"In the 87th minute, in the 87th minute, Su Dong finally scored the first goal for Manchester City!"
“One to zero!!!”
"This was a wonderful tactical corner kick from Manchester City. Marcelo made an accurate pass to the back post and Su Dong scored with a header, breaking the deadlock for Manchester City."
As soon as Su Dong landed, he rushed towards the corner area frantically.
Kompany, Pepe and others tried to pull him back, but he dodged them smartly.
Su Dong rushed straight to the sidelines and roared at the fans in the stands, venting his excitement after scoring the goal.
After attacking for more than 80 minutes, they still failed to break through Tottenham Hotspur's goal.
Until this moment, the goal of the North London team was broken! In a football match, especially a high-level and high-quality football match, the most fulfilling moment is undoubtedly this moment! Manchester City's players also chased out and surrounded him.
Although they only worked together for one season, and although Su Dong became the team captain as soon as he arrived, everyone was convinced by him.
It's not because of anything else, it's because he can always lead the team to victory at critical moments.
Just like now.
No one was able to do anything, but Su Dong had a way to lead the team to score goals and break the opponent's goal.
This seems simple, but in fact, looking around the world, and even throughout history, how many people can do it?
All the Manchester City players congratulated Su Dong wholeheartedly, especially his decision to take a tactical corner kick, which made everyone convinced.
As it turned out, it was this tactical corner kick that caught Tottenham Hotspur off guard.
Moreover, Pepe and Marcelo, who completed this tactical corner kick, are both Sudong's most loyal comrades.
The football field worships the strong!
And Su Dong is the strongest in the world of football today!
(End of this chapter)
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